Melky Cabrera gets ring and four hits during his reunion with San Francisco Giants

Toronto Blue Jays' Edwin Encarnacion hits a single off San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Barry Zito during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 14, 2013, in Toronto. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

TORONTO -- More than eight months after leaving the Giants amid a cloud of controversy, Melky Cabrera was living a quiet existence with the Toronto Blue Jays.

He was hitting just .261 with one homer entering Tuesday's game against his old team, and largely had avoided the media because of his lack of on-field contributions.

The Giants gave Cabrera a reason to open up, in more ways than one.

Shortly after he was given his World Series ring, Cabrera had four of Toronto's 18 hits in a 10-6 victory over Barry Zito and the Giants. Afterward, he was asked to explain why he left San Francisco without addressing or apologizing to teammates after his suspension was announced last Aug. 15.

"When I heard the news, somebody told me it was better not to," Cabrera said through a translator. "I would have liked to talk to the players, but somebody told me to leave."

Cabrera wouldn't say who asked him to leave.

Later, he said it was Bruce Bochy's idea to hold Tuesday's ring presentation in a private tunnel between the clubhouses. Before giving Cabrera his ring, Bochy had told reporters that a Blue Jays official approached the Giants to say that Cabrera preferred a private exchange.

Regardless of how it was planned, Cabrera and Bochy both called the ring presentation a pleasant moment, although it lasted under a minute.

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"It was brief," Bochy said. "He was thankful and excited that he got the ring and I thanked him for his contributions. He was a good teammate. We all make mistakes, but I will say that he was a good guy to have on the club. We're grateful for what he did for us."

Cabrera hit .346 with 11 homers and 84 runs before being sidelined by a positive test for testosterone. He left AT&T Park in such a rush that he didn't even empty his locker. The Giants brought much of that equipment to the Rogers Centre this week and Cabrera used one of his old bats, adorned with his number, 53, in orange. Cabrera used the bat to pick up four of the Blue Jays' 18 hits and also reach on an error that helped open the floodgates in the first inning.

The Giants made two errors right off the bat and the Blue Jays scorched several balls that just eluded Giants infielders on the hard turf. In all, Zito gave up 12 hits, the second highest total of his career and highest as a Giant.

He was charged with eight runs, five of them earned. Zito felt the Blue Jays hit a lot good pitches.

"They were hitting them where we weren't," he said. "When they hit the pitches you make and it's a good pitch, sometimes you go back and think you've got to sequence them differently."

Bochy had Chad Gaudin warming up as the six-run first inning moved along and appreciated that Zito was able to last 5﻿2/3 innings in the first game of a six-game trip that includes four in Colorado.

In their first game in Toronto since 2010, the Giants struggled at times to corral balls hit off the hard turf and into the air against the backdrop of the checkered roof.

"It's no excuse," Bochy said. "But I will say it's a different game (here). Usually it takes a game or two to get used to it."

It takes a while to get used to facing a knuckleballer, too, and the Giants didn't fare well against R.A. Dickey, who pitched six strong innings and struck out a season-high 10. The Giants struck out 15 times on the night, marking the first time in recorded team history that the lineup whiffed at least 15 times and the pitchers gave up at least 18 hits in the same game.

The game wasn't without offensive highlights, despite the strikeouts. Brandon Belt hit a homer and RBI double, Marco Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 13 games and Pablo Sandoval hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth.

But the Giants' loss set off a celebration at Rogers Centre that included a beaming Cabrera.

Before the game, Cabrera hugged several former teammates and said hello to catcher Buster Posey as he walked to the plate in the first inning. Afterward, he said he was "very happy" that the Giants brought his ring.

"I was a big part of that team," Cabrera said. "People make mistakes. You just continue to play and move on."